Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick made a starting lineup switch after eight games of the 2024-25 season, plugging in Cam Reddish next to Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves instead of D’Angelo Russell. The former starter reacted well to the news and played well off the bench, understanding that the Lakers needed the defensive pop.
It’s a small sample size, but through the Lakers’ first eight games, they ranked No. 28 in the NBA in defensive rating at 118.8. That was just 1.1 points away from being the worst defense in all of basketball. And while it’s only been two games since the move, the early results are astonishing. L.A. ranks No. 16 in defensive rating (111.8) since Nov. 8 and are 2-0.
That can’t solely be attributed to Reddish, but his defensive impact is not going unnoticed. Davis, specifically, spoke about what Reddish brings to the Lakers and why he isn’t surprised.
“Cam has always been like that. He’s always been a pest on the ball,” Davis said after practice on Tuesday. “He’s always been defensive-minded. He continues to try to find, I don’t wanna say where he fits on the team, but his role where he can get minutes or whatever.
“On the Detroit game when he came it, he was causing disruption and it’s something that we just needed, especially when we come out flat. If they have a lead scoring guard or a lead scoring wing, he’s able to be disruptive. We saw it in the Philly game with Paul George, even back to last year he was the same way with taking those defensive assignments. We need him to kind of be that dog for us and he’s accepted that role. Locking down, making shots when he needs to and making plays when he needs to. He’s locked in on just being that defensive guy for us in the backcourt.”
The Lakers were not going to make any noise this season with a defense that ranks in the bottom five. And if Reddish is the piece that gets the Lakers out of that hole and into the middle of the pack, then that’s the string that Redick has to pull.
It’s unclear if the Reddish move is permanent or just to infuse some life, but it seems that Redick is going to go with this unit until there’s a reason to make another change.
LeBron James praises Cam Reddish
The returns have been great so far as Cam Reddish’s ability as a perimeter defender have helped improve the team’s defense overall, not to mention his overall energy and fight is something the Lakers greatly need. And following the Lakers’ win over the Toronto Raptors, LeBron James had a ton of praise for Reddish embracing his role.
“His energy. Just very selfless. Ability to defend on perimeter is very, very key for our ball club,” James said. “I mean, you know, like I said the other night, with Vando being out, it takes one of our primary perimeter guys, defenders that we know we can just key in on a certain matchup, and now we can be inserting back into the to the lineup, into the fray of things, we know we have that one guy on the perimeter. That’s okay. That’s your matchup tonight. Go make it tough on him. And Cam has taken on that responsibility.”
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